Grand Colony Island Villas - San Pedro, Belize Review

We recently went on a vacation to Belize and like usual, we were looking for a condo/hotel/home rental that could offer us all the amenities of home.  It was important to us to have all the basics of home since we were traveling with two small children.

Now, this is particularly hard in Belize since most of the island is pretty rustic and in the middle of the jungle. That means that many of the rental properties have limited water supply, constraints around electricity and are not easily accessible. In all of Belize there are only 100 doctors, so also being close to a town with a doctor was important to us (especially given that they have Malaria issues there!)

After a lot of research, I finally settled on staying on one of the Belize Ceyes (keys) about a 20 minute flight from Belize City. It is where most people to stay to be around the water/beaches and it is more commercialized and less "roufin' it". So, expect a lot of divers, fishers and beach goers. NOTE: this is not a jungle location with monkeys, toucans, etc. You need to travel back to the mainland for that! 

Once we settled on the location, I found the Grand Colony Villas in Belize and they did not disappoint. I was a little worried because I couldnt find much about them online, but by American standards, they were beautiful and spacious.

Location: The Grand Colony Villas are located on the beach front of San Pedro. The hotel itself is located just South of San Pedro city (about 3  square blocks). You will need a golf cart to get into town or can take a taxi for $5 each way to get into the city. (Note: a golf cart is $75 per day, so it is definitely cheaper to take a taxi, but way less fun!) You should know that this is NOT A JUNGLE location. It is a beach location. You will need to travel back to the mainland to experience the jungle activities like cave tubing, zip lining, Mayan Ruins, the zoo, etc. If you are traveling to Belize to go to the Blue Hole or dive, stay on the Keys for a few days. But, if you are looking for Jungle adventure, this is definitely not the place to stay (unless you want to pay to travel back and forth to the mainland. We did and it was costly and time consuming). 

Amenities:The Grand Colony is really like a condo community but with hotel services. There is a restaurant, dive shop, concierge, cleaning crew, room service and more. The staff is very aimed to please and will accommodate your every wish. They were top notch. We used them to plan several day trips for us and Eli, the dive shop manager, was perhaps our best friend by the end of the trip! Sandra, our housekeeper was also wonderful and would often come in and play with my kids! I cant speak more highly of the staff. Note: included in your stay is a driver to and from the airport. They will also schedule all of your travel once you get into Belize.

The Villas:Our villa at the Grand Colony had 2 bedrooms, 2 large baths, a living room, kitchen, dining room and patio. The villa was tastefully decorated and had comfy bed, sheets, granite countertops, flat screen Tvs, DVD players and more. They even had a tankless hot water heater for the large bath tub, so that you could stay in as long as you want! This was quite luxurious by American standards and absurd by Belize standards. In fact, there were moments when I felt terrible we were staying in such a nice place when locals lived in such different conditions.

Overall, the Grand Colony Villas in Belize were great. They are especially great if you are a family traveler that is seeking to cook your own meals, and have the comforts of home. You are close enough the jungle to travel back and forth but it is expensive and an all day affair. So, consider where you stay wisely!

P.S. Dont miss out on Shark Ray Alley! My son- who is 4- actually swam with Sharks. Yes, I was having heart palpitations the whole time.